Chinese regulators are scrutinising old business deals and bank accounts of senior executives as they ramp up inspections of stock-listing hopefuls. No companies have lodged IPO plans in Shanghai and Shenzhen this year.

StarCharge, which provides charging equipment for electric vehicles, is focusing on efforts to grow its presence in more profitable markets outside mainland China, chief strategy officer Evan Feng says.

The autonomous driving start-up plans to launch the L4-capable FlashBot in Shanghai this year, followed by other tier-one mainland cities. It is also seeking tie-ups in Hong Kong, Europe and North America.

Hong Kong’s IPO market is healing and investors are returning, drawn by a generation of innovative, little-known companies that will also provide a rich vein of investment banking business for years to come, says Citigroup’s Asian head of investment banking.

Mainland China investors will gain access to Hong Kong’s Reits via an expanded mutual market access scheme in a move which will deepen the market, enhance its liquidity and attract international issuers, analysts say.

Across 16 sectors, artificial intelligence unicorns are the highest valued, at an average of US$6.76 billion, followed by financial technology firms at US$6.57 billion.

CICC cuts pay amid brutal business environment as a sluggish economy and dismal IPO volumes hurt the financial services sector.

Carlson Tong Ka-shing, a veteran accountant and former head of the city’s market regulator, will work with CEO Bonnie Chan, as the exchange grapples with low market turnover and a decline in new listings.

Net profit for the January-to-March period came in at HK$2.97 billion (US$380 million), or HK$2.35 per share, beating a consensus estimate of a 14 per cent decline and improving on the fourth quarter of 2023 by 14 per cent.

ESG reporting and the Greater Bay Area offer opportunities for young accountants, and the IPO market is set to recover, new HKICPA president Roy Leung says.

Chabaidao’s stock ended the day 27 per cent lower after slumping as much as 38 per cent. It raised about HK$2.6 billion (US$331.7 million) from the sale of 147.8 million shares at HK$17.50 each.

Many Chinese firms are expected to shift their fundraising plans to Hong Kong following measures by the mainland’s market regulator to support initial public offerings in the city, analysts say.

BNP Paribas marks its re-entry into China’s market with hires, at a time when Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have all made rounds of job cuts in Hong Kong and China

Hesai, which released new products based on its ATX technology on Friday, is seriously considering building plants outside mainland China to capitalise on the growing use of the technology, CEO Li says.

China’s capital market regulators have announced a package of measures to boost liquidity, attract international investors and enhance competitiveness between the mainland and Hong Kong.

It is only a matter of time before the currently depressed market stages a rebound, according to Fred Hu of private-equity firm Primavera Capital.

More than 40 of the 50 jobs the Wall Street firm plans to cut will be from Hong Kong and mainland China. Morgan Stanley joins a host of banks that have laid off bankers this year.

Chinese tea shop giant Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial aims to raise HK$2.5 billion (US$330 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering, set to be the city’s largest new-share sale of the year, regulatory filings show.

Philippine chain Hotel101 Global targets 1 million rooms and a presence in more than 100 countries after signing an agreement to merge with a Hong Kong company, which aims to list on Nasdaq in New York.

Amid rising geopolitical tensions, most of the top 30 investors that invested in Chinese unicorns are based within the country.

There is nothing to fear from missteps because nobody is error-free, Ma wrote, after his co-founder Joe Tsai touched on Alibaba’s mistakes in a podcast interview, generating a frenzy on China’s social media.

The numbers do not lie, Hong Kong’s financial regulators told the HSBC Global Investment Summit on Tuesday. The city’s market has shown resilience and competence through several years of economic headwinds.

First-time stock offerings in Hong Kong are expected to improve after a dismal first quarter, according to Deloitte China. Tighter regulatory oversight could hinder bourses in mainland China.

Companies in Saudi Arabis and Indonesia have shown a genuine interest in Hong Kong’s IPO market, Bonnie Chan Yiting, CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, says at a Legislative Council meeting on Monday.

Lack of interest has more to do with lacklustre IPO activity than the reform per se, which will draw more interest when listings pick up, analysts say.

‘The slowdown in IPOs will carry on, and the listing process for mega IPOs is expected to be lengthened,’ an analyst says, as the market watchdog has pledged to improve listing quality.

Swiss agrichemicals and seeds giant Syngenta Group has withdrawn its application for a listing in Shanghai amid China’s slowing equities market.